By Adrien Taylor
Drivers are being warned to avoid a stretch of motorway in central Auckland this weekend.
Three of the four southbound lanes of the Newmarket Viaduct will be closed while workers pour the concrete that will connect the north and southbound links.
Around 60,000 drivers use the Newmarket Viaduct on a typical Saturday or Sunday.
The New Zealand Transport Agency’s state highways manager Tommy Parker says three southbound lanes will be closed over the weekend, so people will no doubt experience delays.
The closure is needed while concrete is poured to seal the gap between the new northbound and southbound viaducts.
It is an 18-hour operation known as "the stitch". The lanes need to be closed to keep the viaduct as still as possible while the concrete sets.
It is not the first time drivers have been asked to avoid this stretch - it was closed one weekend last year when the new southern viaduct was opened.
Drivers heeded the warnings then and kept away from the area, with 80 percent fewer cars on surrounding roads.
The new viaduct has been built to higher safety and earthquake standards. This means, for the first time, the land underneath can be developed.
“Previously there were restrictions on land use,” says Mr Parker. “With the new viaduct we can have more intensification of urban buildings and a better master plan for this end of Newmarket.”
So this weekend they will carry out the stitch, and then the switch will come.
That will take place next year when traffic from the existing northbound viaduct is switched to the new replacement road.
After that will come the demolition of the old lanes, which is expected to be finished by the end of next year.
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